The TMB boys basketball team held
the first action of the season this past Saturday in Windom as
they participated in a three team scrimmage with Windom and
Adrian. The Panthers faced off with the Adrian Dragons to begin
the day and completed the day by facing the Windom Eagles.

In the first scrimmage we met up
with a team that wanted to keep the pace of the game at their
level and we really did all we could not to let that
happen, stated Coach Nat Boyer. We had a strong team
effort from the majority of our squad. I felt we really pushed
the ball up the floor on offense, which led to some very good
open looks at the basket and defensively we disrupted the flow of
Adrians offense by giving them some different full and
half-court looks from our defense.

Individuals who looked strong were
Gary Knott. who ran the floor, hit the boards and passed well out
of the post, as we expected him to do, and had a monstrous
slam-dunk to highlight the scrimmage, plus he converted a
free-throw to finish off the three point play; Anthony Dolan who
handled the point guard position, with Kyle McIntire and Drew
Nelson, also converted on the offensive and defensive end. Isaac
Dolan, showed a lot of strength on the boards as well as helped
move the ball well throughout the morning, and Andrew Prairie
played some key minutes and converted on both ends of the
floor.

When matched up against Windom, the
Panthers faced a team which was much more up-tempo and athletic
than Adrian had been, Boyer said.

The Eagles wanted to run the floor
and they tried to hide nothing as they wanted to show everyone
that they intend on being a power in both the Southwest
Conference and in Section 3AA. With ten players available for the
scrimmage, two were not present due to personal reasons, the
Panthers showed some late signs of fatigue in this scrimmage as
Windom used the entire court to their advantage. We are not
yet in the kind of shape we want to be in, but these young men
knew that immediately following the scrimmage. It isnt
often during the season, when you will be playing four 20 minute
halves in a row with only 5 minute breaks in between.

Boyer said that Taylor Rignell, did some
nice things defensively, while Steven Paradis and Nick Soupir
both converted in the post on both ends of the floor.

 Derek Radke continued to fill his
role as well, while playing both the shooting guard and small
forward position. Overall, we did see some very good things, but
we suffered some defensive and offensive breakdowns. After
looking at film and reflecting with our coaching staff and
players we know that adjustments need to be made and we are
always in the process of doing that. I would say for our first
scrimmage and only our fifth day back on the court since this
past summer we did well, not great by any means, but well.

Boyer is looking for a good game at
Slayton Saturday.

Murray County Central is a great
opponent, the proximity and the atmosphere which comes into play
with those types of game are tough to match. I know the team is
excited to get the regular season started and represent TMB and
we hope the Panther fans will be there to show their support as
wel, Boyer concluded.

Wrestlers open with quad in Clara City

The Panther wrestling team continues
working out in preparation for its opening meet at Clara City
Tuesday. A couple of off days due to the recent snowstorm have
made it difficult to determine, at this time, who will be
representing the Panthers in the Dec. 6 quadrangular with
MACCRAY, Benson and Renville County West.

We will have wrestle
offs on Thursday to see who will be opening for us,
said Panther Coach Brian Michelson. Right now we have more
than 35 kids out and the intensity and the attitude have been
great!

The squad has been bolstered by the
addition of two unexpected senior candidates, Drew Hebig and Dan
Malmberg. Both have had some wrestling experience and are
expected to help the team.

They (Hebig and Malmberg) are both
very good athletes and their maturity will help us very
much, said Michelson.

The squad is also helped by the
leadership of captains Paul Carlson, Cole Cooreman, Andy Nelson,
Cody Arnold and Chia Thao. Carlson has had three trips to the
state tournament and Cooreman two.

Girls host Jackson in home opener

The Panther girls basketball team
opens the season Friday against Jackson County Central at Tracy.

The girls have been practicing
well but we lost two days to the weather Monday and
Tuesday, said Panther Coach Rick Haberman. JCC has
had school both days plus they have two games under their
belts.

Jackson County Central placed second in
a tournament at Sleepy Eye St. Marys by winning over Mayer
Lutheran and losing to Sleepy Eye St Marys in the
championship game.

We will be trying different
schemes on offense and defense in the early part of our
schedule, said Haberman. You cant lose people
like Tessa Nelson, Jenna Schaar and Nicole Haecherl and still
continue to do the things we did last year.

The Panthers will have to build around
the ball handling and shooting ability of Alyssa Kirk, the
scoring of Ashley Domine and the rebounding and defensive
presence of Emily Miller.